Mr Adler said: "We have seen a great response from all of the teams associated with the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre (EMCHC) to enable a record numbers of surgical cases to be performed in recent weeks, in line with what our growth plan requires.”

NHS England targets demand for three surgeons to deliver 375 surgical cases averaged over the last three years by 2018/19, and four surgeons to deliver 500 surgical cases by 2020/21.